Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. – There's usually one match at the beginning of a season that ends up becoming a defining moment for a team throughout the rest of the year. For the Norfolk State volleyball team, that match came against UNC Greensboro in the Spartan Classic.
Despite an epic first set and a 2-0 lead, the Spartans fell to UNCG, 3-2, Saturday afternoon at Joseph Echols Hall. After two awful Sets 3 and 4, the Spartans nearly came away with the win in Set 5 before UNCG pulled out the late victory to drop NSU's record to 2-1.
NSU put in the extra effort to win the first set, 36-34, then won the second set, 25-21. UNCG took over from there, winning 25-16, 25-8, before finally taking a back-and-forth fifth set, 16-14.
“We knew they were a team we were going to have to play our best volleyball against to come up with a win,” said interim head coach Brandon Duvall. “Going out there and competing in the first two sets – once again it shows how resilient we are. We were down quite a bit but kept on fighting back.”
NSU piled up 62 kills in the match, just 10 away from the program's all-time record of 72, but was done in by 50 attack errors. UNCG (3-0) outblocked the Spartans, 19-3, and attacked at a .168 clip. NSU hit just .059 for the match. NSU's total 204 attacks fell short of the program record of 230.
Freshman Noelle Eagles did come away with a new record, as she posted 30 digs to break the previous NSU record of 29 set by April Johnson against Virginia Union on Oct. 23, 1996.
Freshman Arielle Knafel was one of four Spartans in double figures in kills with 17. She was also one of three players to post a double-double with 23 digs. Sophomore Charlotte Armstead added 14 kills, while junior Jasmine Frazier and Paige Gary-Canty each posted 12.
Gary-Canty also added 15 digs, while junior Nicole Kessner totaled 48 assists and 15 digs. NSU had 58 total assists, two short of the all-time record of 60 set in 2003.
UNCG was led by Olivia with 13 kills, while Caley Redden had a team-high 20 digs. Ari Lysacek added 29 assists.
NSU was slow out of the gates, falling behind, 8-2, which had Duvall asking for a timeout. The break worked, as the Spartans ran off four straight points to cut the deficit to 8-6. After an NSU attack error, the Spartans went on a 7-0 run, helped by several UNCG attack errors, to go up, 13-9.
NSU maintained the lead throughout the mid-portion of the set, but a block by UNCG cut NSU's lead to one at 22-21. The fun began after a kill by Frazier got NSU to set point at 24-23, as UNCG stayed alive with a return kill to tie it up at 24-24.
Back-to-back kills by UNCG made it 26-25, but Knafel kept NSU alive after she threw down a kill. NSU took the lead back on two straight kills by Armstead but could not put UNCG away. Gary-Canty saved the set for NSU when she put down a kill to tie it up at 30-30 then followed that up with another one for a 31-30 lead.
UNCG held off set point twice before coming back with a 34-33 lead. A service error and attack error on UNCG then gave NSU the 35-34 lead, and after UNCG called a timeout, the second of two straight attack errors on UNCG's Ariel Newman finally ended the marathon set, 36-34.
Kessner had 15 assists in that first set, while Eagles added 13 digs and Gary-Canty posted seven kills.
“It's one of those games that's a character builder, especially when you go five and with the amount of freshmen and sophomores we had on the floor,” said Duvall. “To go five with UNC Greensboro against some of those big kids, I'm very proud of our players. I thought they did a fantastic job.”
Again, NSU found itself down early as UNCG took a 5-2 lead to begin the second set. A kill by Knafel tied it up at 5-5, but after UNCG held a 10-8 lead a little bit later, NSU won seven of eight points, including the last six in a row, to take a 15-11 lead.
UNCG took four of five points a short time later and then eventually tied it up at 18-all. A UNCG service error and two straight kills by Armstead ended that threat, and Gary-Canty later threw down a kill to end the set, 25-21.
The Spartans dropped the opening four points of the third set and were unable to recover, getting no closer than two at 5-3 after Knafel knocked home a kill. UNCG extended the lead to as much as 10 before finally winning the set, 25-16.
NSU had no answer for UNCG in the fourth set, dropping eight straight points and 13-of-14 during a closing stretch as UNCG easily won, 25-8.
Neither team could get ahead early in the fifth set, as an eventually 3-1 deficit for NSU turned into an 8-6 lead on a service ace by Knafel. UNCG called a timeout after that play, but NSU extended the lead to 11-8 after back-to-back kills by Frazier and sophomore Maatra Henderson, sandwiched around the second yellow card of the match on a UNCG player.
UNCG won four of the next five points to tie it up at 12-12, forcing Duvall to call time. Armstead gave NSU a 14-13 lead, UNCG used a kill, a block and a NSU attack error to take the match and the fifth set, 16-14.
